September 13, 2005

Quick Links: Brian McAdam, Whistleblower, Sept.2005 Presentation -&- More

Strange things happen when I post about certain subjects and countries. This time, my template has changed and the menu which is usually at the left is now at the bottom, along with the website links -- mysteriously moved. I say mysteriously because I did not change the template. At any rate, this too, will pass.

I lack the time to do more right now; I suggest that you scroll down for all the post titles and pay particular attention to posts on China, hackers, UNSCAM--oil for food.



Also, see these links:

Do not miss the first link from one of Canada's rather well-known whistleblowers, a former Foreign Service Officer who testified before Canada's Parliamentary Committee on Security earlier this year, and then the links to even more in McAdam's End Notes.

http://www.primetimecrime.com/contributing/2005/20050907McAdam.htm

China – Deception, Delusions and Denial
Presentation by Brian McAdam on September 7, 2005, at Public Forum: Focus on China,
University of Ottawa, Co-hosted by the Hon. David Kilgour and China Insight By Brian McAdam



http://www.asianpacificpost.com/news/article/664.html

Has Canada's legal system been corrupted by China?Sept. 7, 05, Asia Pacific Post

A sure sign of moral hypocrisy is to do one thing for your friends and then quite the opposite for others.




Related:
http://www.asianpacificpost.com/news/article/631.html
Guess Hu's coming to town


Is this not the company to which Canadians' tax money went to via Bombardier earlier this year?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9310662/
Delta seen close to bankruptcy; stock tumblesCarrier reported in final stages of deal for money to keep operating
Sept. 12, 2005


Lately, I posted the links but here, I have added the titles -- for a reason.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2004/cover121504.htm
Canada's global connections



http://www.acepilots.com/unscam/archives/001890.html
Canadian Connection This by Mark Steyn . . .
Website: Friends of Saddam: The UN OiI for Food Scandal (UNSCAM. Saddam, his many Global Friends, and the UN Scandals)



http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/1/17/133225.shtml
The Oil-for-Food Scandal – the Canadian Connection
Charles R. Smith
Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005

The truth about BNP Paribas and Power Corp. sheds a new light on Canada's seemingly bizarre anti-American foreign policy in the Middle East, in China and elsewhere.

BNP Paribas bank is part of a holding company, Pargesa Holding, which is jointly owned and controlled by the Frère and Desmarais families. Paul Desmarais Sr. is the chairman of the group, while Albert Frère is the vice-chairman. Gerald Frère, Albert's son, is one of three general managers who oversee day-to-day operations, and Paul Desmarais Jr. is also an officer.

Pargesa, and thus Power Corporation and the Canadian Desmarais family, holds a controlling significant stake in TotalFina Elf, the Belgian-French petroleum multinational corporation formed from the merger of Total and Petrofina.




http://www.canadafreepress.com/2004/cover112604.htm
Prime Minister Paul Martin signs Canada up for one world order United Nations



There is more if you scroll down this post.
http://frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/2005_05_29_frosthitstherhubarb_archive.html
In particular, this is of interest: "Hackers and Spying -- Red Bricks along the Yellow Brick Road"


September 12, 2005

Quick Tour

Advisors urge Blair to ditch Holocaust Day -- offensive to Muslims via Newsbeat1

Isn't it time that these "peaceful" but very easily offended Muslims, who have chosen to come to the West, are told that most of us don't care whether a Holocaust Day Memorial offends them? The Holocaust is part of Western history--an ignominious part--that the West chooses to remember so it won't happen again. Unlike Islamists who are supported by mainstream Islam's silence through denial and refusal to denounce Islamist terrorists and extremists barbaric, the West chooses to eradicate its own barbarity, so it memorializes that Holocaust of World War 2 to remember and to ensure it won't be repeated by succeeding generations. It is time for Islam to choose not to glorify the barbarity of using Allah to support killing Jews. . . and it seems, the world, if it doesn't accept Islam or behave according to Islamic principles.

Suggestion: Go home if you don't like the West's choice of what to remember and the West's other traditions.




Are disasters really good for the economy? Early assessments of Katrina illustrate 'fallacy of the broken window' Martin Wolk, MSNBC, Sept. 9, 05

The broken window fallacy

The basic flaw in the logic behind such accounting was attacked a century and a half ago by French thinker Frederic Bastiat who referred to the “fallacy of the broken window.”

Imagine a boy who has broken a window, he said in his 1850 essay “That Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen.” Onlookers inevitably find a silver lining in the added work for the window repairman: “What would become of the glaziers if no one ever broke a window?"

Yet this thinking fails to take into account that the boy’s family, which will be paying to replace the window, will have to divert funds that could have been used to buy new shoes or a book instead.




Surprised? Will this be time enough for PM/PMO & Co to get their ducks in a row? To spread enough pork from the overtaxation?

Gomery delay could push back election: report CTV.ca, Sept. 12, 05

The federal election could be delayed until at least March, because the sponsorship inquiry probe is taking longer than expected, The Globe and Mail reported Monday.

Justice John Gomery, who is heading up the inquiry into the sponsorship scandal, is now expected to deliver his final report six weeks late -- on Feb. 1, according to The Globe. The report had originally been due on Dec. 15. [. . . . ]




China Commentary
Concessions to China, Trading with the Devil rosemarie59

What would be the motivation for the Chinese government to allow their citizens to travel to democracies? Is this supposed to be a way to even up the trade surplus? Will a small number of these travelers remain on North American soil to engage in industrial espionage? [. . . . ]




Jonass & CBC: "A square peg in a round hole"

"The last of three excerpts
from George Jonas's newly released memoir, Beethoven's Mask: Notes on My Life and Times"

This, published in the National Post, Sept. 10, 05, included a low opinion of the CBC and what happens to square pegs in round holes, to those whose views don't fit the CBC's political and other views; he did not spare himself for not leaving that ecure job, paycheck and the time to write books. He was on staff for 25 years, then was "laid off"--a government-style lay-off designed to rid itself of those it finds inconvenient, it seems. This excerpt is worth reading from someone who was there.

Jonas, George: Beethoven's mask : notes on my life and times -- on website, C810 CANADIAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH, Toronto : Key Porter Books, 2005, ISBN 1-55263-710-7

Articles by Jonas on his own website



Yesterday, it was reported there were 30,000 marijuana plants -- RCMP near Moncton

Only 19,000 marijuana plants found in Adamsville. -- One person to be charged may be an illegal immigrant.

Who would count them, anyway? Maybe some were medically necessary somewhere? Maybe a few fell off the turnip truck?

[. . . . ] Two men believed to be in their 30s were arrested after RCMP executed a search warrant at the home on the property.

Both men were to appear in provincial court in nearby Richibucto on Monday to face drug charges.

One of the men was also expected to face immigration-related charges. [. . . . ]



Hard working farmers, though, we have to admit.

I do wonder. When does marijuana pass from medically necessary, perhaps eventually to be government-sanctioned for medical purposes -- from illegal at present, to supplied somehow so that possession of small amounts will be decriminalized? That won't happen before the next election and PM would have been in a pickle had decriminalization gone forward . . . but PM and his government have given the right message to the marijuana users. Vote for us and maybe . . . . . . . Schizoid?




Martin joins U.S. ambassador to mark 9-11 anniversary, reaffirm fight Jim Brown, National Post, Sept. 11, 05

during a memorial ceremony in Ottawa at the United States Embassy, Sunday.

[. . . . ] The centre-piece of the ceremony was the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the 9-11 events and expressing "lasting gratitude to the people of Canada for extending the bright light of friendship on America's darkest day." But attendance at the event was by invitation only and was confined largely to political notables, armed forces and police officials, and representatives of the Ottawa diplomatic corps. [. . . . ]


Where was mention of the names of Canada's 9/11 victims? It is as though Canada had none. Aside from that, in one news report, there was emphasis on Canada's aid to the victims of the plane crash near Halifax NS but it might bother some voting bloc--Muslim?--to bring up the terrorism against our own citizens. Maybe no poll was done to tell our PM whether to or how to memorialize them?

Note that this ceremony was held at the US embassy. Did I miss a public ceremony particularly for the Canadians murdered by terrorists?



Shariah Law a lib ploy for male muslim votes CNEWS forum, stranger338

After offending the muslim population with the pushing through of SSM the liberals tried to win back muslim votes with the passing of the Shariah Law.A BIG hit for male muslims.Their train of thought was give the males a bigger hammer and the women will be even more likely to vote what the family head says or DONT vote at all. Play east against the west, french against the english, and now..family members against family members. What a bunch of snakes. They NEED all immigrant votes to win. Its a small wonder that the liberal strong holds are greater Toronto and the needle capital of the world,Vancouver. Guaranteed over 50% immigrants. In other words guys and girls, the visitors have taken over the house. I kinda want my house back. How about you?




Concessions to China, Trading with the Devil anne mcm on CNEWS forum

This is the devil Martin chooses to dance with. How soon they forget. We cannot judge any other nation, we no longer have that right when the leader of our country deals with the likes of this.




(very graphic) The Massacre China


Meanwhile, two Chinese-Canadian television reporters sympathetic to Falungong were escorted out of the dinner at the behest of Chinese officials. (free speach????) <br>


Reminder: Amount of tax $$$ to refugees -- how many enter with phony documents?

Truth Laid Bear: Retire a Refugee

"I also found it interesting that the federal government provides a single refugee with a monthly allowance of $1,890 and each can also get an additional $580 in social assistance for a total of $2,470....





What If the United States Had Not Invaded Iraq by Daniel Pipes, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 2005

[Mr. Pipes was one of 11 contributors to this symposium on counter-history. His essay is titled "A benefit to security, a detriment to attitude." For the others, see http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/special_packages/sunday_review/12611856.htm. For a list of contributors, see http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/special_packages/sunday_review/12611857.htm.]

[. . . . ] To generalize, benefits of the war have been mainly security-related and the costs mainly attitudinal. The world is safer with Hussein awaiting trial in a jail cell, but also more divided. The Bush administration succeeded militarily but failed politically.

On balance, the war brought more positives than negatives; unpopularity and acrimony are a price worth paying so that the Iraqi government no longer endangers Iraqis or the rest of the world.



September 11, 2005

Cdns, You are the Target, Border Guards: Wear a Bulletproof Vest & Use Pepper Spray, Video

You are the target -- On a quiet street, a man is plotting to kill you.

This is so explosive an article in the world of Canadians reluctant to grasp the enormity of the problem, Canadians lulled into being trusting to a careless--even clueless--extreme. With a few notable exceptions, journalists have been remiss in investigating and reporting on the actual state of our security--riding the rising tide of political correctness--perhaps for simple survival in the world of pleasing one's political masters bosses who must never forget government advertising $$$ for their and their media's survival.

You are the target -- On a quiet street, a man is plotting to kill you. Jeremy Loome, Ottawa Sun, Sept. 11, 05

If we can't get rid of terrorism, we can at least be prepared for it, and on that front Canada has taken many steps. But a two-month Sun Media analysis indicates they have been ineffective and may even be making us more susceptible to terrorism.

Several factors have hampered our progress, including:

- A decade of intelligence community funding cuts that left it scrambling to catch up to the use of the Internet and left it short of essential overseas intelligence agents.

- Immigration policies that make Canada a haven for both real and phony refugees, but affords them poor standards of living, making them susceptible to extremist propaganda.

- An identity system and an electoral system that are rife with fraud and the potential for abuse.

How can any security agency operate effectively in extraordinary circumstances with the funding and manpower decreases over the last several years?

CSIS: $170 million less, staff decreased 40%

RCMP: $175 million less, lost 2200 men -- Furthermore, the mandate of the RCMP has changed--which suits Quebec since it does not want a federal policing presence (Palango's book on the RCMP), though the other provinces would benefit from and probably be happy to get more federal law enforcement, undoubtedly. As it is, the RCMP emphasizes local policing and carries out a much smaller percentage of its work time on federal law enforcement than in the past--some of it privatized which allowed the government to save money. As well, the feds make money from selling RCMP policing services to provinces and municipalities such as Moncton (a big marijuana bust near there--30,000 plants).

Nevertheless, there is federal work to do in security and protection of Canadians . . . and more.


I have included several phrases in order to give an idea of the range of information available in this lengthy article in hopes that people will link. It is important.

Search:

He'll revel in your death , absence of security at public facilities , RCMP Commissioner Norman Inkster , already behind , Reid Morden, director of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service , cuts across the board , intelligence community , lost about 25% , UNSPENT MONEY , Bureaucrats , Retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie , CSIS primarily needed , increase in its ability to analyze information , Internet terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann , VISA OFFICES , adequately staffing , overseas intelligence and visa offices , domestic intelligence officers , getting direction or financing from foreign sources , a former president of INTERPOL , only letting the right people into the country , The Internet , a parallel criminal system, "Tony Cannavino, president of the Canadian Professional Police Association" , so understaffed , regular crime in regular cities , entirely new , plans to make funding an issue , federal hearings this fall , Your existence offends , violent dogma , spread via the Internet and at mosques , unless the world accepts Islam as one true faith , distinguished not by piety but by violent natures.


Note mention of bureaucrats and unspent money? What do you suppose that is for? Hint: think electioneering and the need for pork.




Wear a Bulletproof Vest and Use Pepper Spray


Border guards abandon posts -- "It started with the shooting Friday night of a New York State trooper near Plattsburgh." Irwin Block, Sept. 11, 05, Gazette, via Newsbeat1,

When an alert was sent to Canadian customs agents in Quebec warning of an "armed and dangerous" suspect, some 50 employees walked off the job for four hours at about 15 of 44 border crossings just before 9 a.m. yesterday.

The result was long lines for Canada-bound traffic of up to 90 minutes at St. Bernard de Lacolle, the busiest crossing in the province, officials reported. [. . . . ]


Search: Canada Labour Code , Lacolle




Border Guards

Search: Lacolle



VIDEO -- Quebec Border


The RCMP have found an outdoor grow-op near Moncton, NB with 30,000 marijuana plants. At $1,000 per plant as income [so I've read], with deductions for equipment, that is still $ 30,000,000 -- $ 30-million if everything goes according to plan. Reduce it by half if I have the figure too high; it is sitll a hefty sum.


Bud: JJ Cale--a small appreciation

Who? JJ Cale? Wasn't he the drummer for the Gimpy Acrobats band? No, actually, he was the man whom Eric Clapton picked when asked, "Who, living today, do you most admire?" If you had seen the PBS special on Clapton's Tour of the Blues guitar extravaganza, you would have seen the two do a magical duel on Cale's "After Midnight". Cale falls into that indefinable category where blues meets rock meets Mexi-Cali. He and Ry Cooder must have separated at birth. They both investigated America's music genres. Cale has never turned out a record that made the top 100 on Billboard. And he doesn't give a d***. Nor do I.

I managed to talk to him after a concert he gave in a Miami Beach club. He only played one of his hits, but he turned "Call me the Breeze" into a six minute barnburner. The rest of the tunes I had never heard before--and I had all his music. A totally astonishing performance of unknown music ensued. When he was packing up, I caught him and asked, "Why don't you make a live concert record?" He turned and replied, "Son, I'm too f...king famous as it is." Well, make that the truth, blues brothers.

© Bud Talkinghorn

Updates 1 & 2: China, Cyberterrorism, Communist Rise, Fulford: Learning to bear the unbearable, Alberta Municipal $$$ to Liberals

Update 2

New posts from Bud Talkinghorn have been added below this post.


Update 1:

China's hackers are out in full force, as are what I assume are members of their network. Is there some truth on this site that these people don't like? I have left the China posts at the top for a reason. NJC




"Most of the attempted incursions originated in the People's Republic of China"

Dot-Commie Investors Business Daily, Sept. 9, 05

National Security: Chinese cyberattacks on American computer systems are on the rise. Is China's purchase of a U.S. computer company part of preparation for an electronic Pearl Harbor?

[. . . . ] The report noted that the People's Liberation Army sees computer network operations as "critical to seize the initiative" in establishing "electronic dominance" in a conflict with a potential enemy.

High technology is our military's greatest strength, but potentially its greatest weakness. [. . . . ]


Search: logged over 79,000 , temporarily reduced the Army's , shut down by the Chinese government , 40,000 Internet police , information warfare units to develop viruses , information warfare , cybertarget list includes , "You've got mail."




"100 per cent for the east."

Ex-communists set for comeback in eastern Germany

PIRNA, Germany (AP) - Katja Kipping, stumping for votes in Germany's former communist east, is a rising star in the new Left Party as it fights to return to parliament in the Sept. 18 election.

The red-haired Kipping, 27, stresses her ex-communist party's uncompromising commitment to opposing efforts to trim the welfare state as she seeks to restore its place on the national stage.

[. . . . ] Schroeder's pro-business attempts to cut welfare-state benefits have galvanized Germany's traditionalist left, prompting the ex-communists to merge with a western-based group of disgruntled former Social Democrats to form the Left Party. In the east, however, people still simply call it the PDS. [. . . . ]




Robert Fulford: Learning to bear the unbearable National Post, Saturday, September 10, 2005

It's a war we didn't expect, didn't know how to fight, and have never accepted as a part of our destiny. As an idea it's too uncomfortable, too far outside the range of our understanding. Canadians can't begin to think of it as a war we will fight the way we have fought others, with wholehearted passion. Most people in the West, and in fact many Americans, share that reluctance. Why even call it a war? A war has an end as well as a beginning. When and how could this one end?

We do know that the events of Sept. 11, 2001, split the population of the West into two factions, those who believe we are engaged in a war (because the other side declared war) and those who believe we are not.
[. . . . ]

Search: "They have brought murder with them, and violence" , a form of national suicide , will continue to arouse suspicions , literature confronts 9/11 , Hundred Years' War , emergency services , scandal of slow response



tangle2foot: "Just in case you're interested in some good reads on "our " current government here are some more good ones."




Albertans: your municipal tax $$$ to Liberals -- whether you like it or not

No quid pro quo, of course

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FEDERAL PARTIES BY ALBERTA MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATIONS timwest, Sept. 10, 05

Sample organizations:

City of Edmonton

Economic Development Edmonton

Heritage Park (Calgary)

Calgary Science Centre

Calgary Zoo

Enmax (Calgary-owned utility)


Link for the rest of the list and for the amounts.




No Shrinking Violet

Aug. 30, I had posted US Illegal Immigration: Two Responses

In wandering the blogosphere, I found related comments. Today on the anniversary of 9/11, what do you think, given what has transpired since?

This guy doesn't want to fool around with US border security -- “News Flash For Imbeciles: Terrorists Exploit Immigration Laws”

-- Comment by Heliotrope — 08.30.05

Make illegal/undocumented aliens a federal expense. Withhold federal funds from localities who do not arrest them and turn them over to the feds. Reimburse the expenses of the local jurisdictions.

Impound the rounded up illegal/undocumented aliens in regional camps (closed military bases?). Send the felons, gang members, and others back home (by C-111’s) after thoroughly documenting them. For those who have established homes and jobs here, give them a fine, document them and order them to learn English and study for citizenship before releasing them.

Those that countries will not take or those who declare no country of origin will end up in “Camp Limbo” where the Red Cross and the ACLU can scrap over them.
[. . . . ]


Further down, guess which agency is being described:

over run with politics and it is a paper mill where government union employees are free to vegetate. The government bureaucracy in general is communistic in nature; they have eternal job security and little performance motivation. They can rarely be fired. They put so many systems of redundancy in place that the gears barely turn. [. . . . ]


On Canada:

Don’t forget the Canadian border! Our good friends in Canada who won’t lift a finger to help us.




Islamic Extremism--Bring on the Dark Ages, NP: Supporting Sharia? Please, Mr. Terrorist, Don't Attack on the Weekend, Educational Standards

Bring on the Dark Ages

When I think of the wave of Islamic terrorism that has engulfed the entire world, I have to think back to our own past inter-religious episode. The West has lost the memory of The Thirty Year's War. That is unfortunate. Launched in the early 1600's, it pitted the Catholic south of Europe against the Protestant north. Some historians claim that, per capita, it equalled World War 11 in death and devastation. Or maybe, it appears as something else from our surreal past, something even more absurd. During the Middle Ages, there were outbreaks of ergot poisoning. This was caused by a certain hallucination-causing mould getting into the wheat. The results were an LSD-like stone everytime you broke bread. The frenzied villagers would get it into their heads that doing some spasmodic amble over to the neighbour's was in order. When the next village saw them coming--gibbering and doing some Satanic version of the hokey-pokey, they rose up and righteously slaughtered them. It was referred to by medieval historians as "the dancing mania". The current attack on the West, by people who want to re-establish the Middle Ages Caliphate--who live their lives based on suras that date back a millenium and a half--is equally bizarre. Their "dancing mania" takes the form of suicide attacks against their Christian / Jewish / Muslim neighbours.

For every advance in this war against the fundamentalists, there is a set-back. Recently, there was a sentence reduction given to the terrorists who blew up the bars in Bali. The West must take this as a sign that Indonesia is wavering in the battle. Ditto, Pakistan's refusal to prosecute "The Father of the Islamic Bomb", who gave away Pakistan's atomic secrets to countries like Iran and Libya. What should have been a straight forward case of treason, was heralded as a good thing by most Pakistanis. And that country, along with perfidious Saudi Arabia, are supposed to be considered allies. Perhaps the most horrific aspect of this illegal proliferation is the language used. The Arab countries talk about having their "Islamic Bomb". Think of what the optics would be if the West talked about their "Christian Bombs".

The oil card is what keeps some of these kingdoms on side. Massive economic aid to Egypt placates it. Until we can wean ourselves away from that oil dependency, we will continue to court our enemies. How many of our gas dollars has al-Qaeda pocketed? Also, until we accept that not only is the enemy external, but internal as well, we are not going to win this war. The Romans allowed the Ostrogoths and Vandals, with their barbaric creeds, into their territories. . . . which was the beginning of the end for their Roman civilization. The Dark Ages began shortly after.

We slept during the birth of al-Qaeda. A CNN journalist named Peter Bergon, had a conversation with Osama in 1995. Bin Laden openly issued a jihad against America. "America was irredeemably corrupt and immoral," he told Bergon. This, from a man who controlled thousands of terrorists he had helped train for terrorism, should have been air warning. The threat was ignored by the Clinton administration, even though the World Trade Center had been attacked in 1993. Bergon put it this way; "Imagine if Japan had openly declared in 1937 that they would attack America. Do you think Pearl Harbour would have happened?" That underestimation of al-Qaeda would prove tragic as the 90's decade progressed. And the new millenium would see its anti-Western attacks reach America, Spain and England.

Well, now it is time to wake up, Canada, and smell the cordite. This is going to be a long range conflict. We have to reappraise all the attitudes we previously held about who we let into this country. Multiculturalism must become a punctured sacred cow. As someone said, "We can't become a tablula rasa, that any group can write their twisted tenets on." We either stand for the best of what Canada represents, or we end up accepting creeds which wish our extinction. The garden gate must be barred against the serpents that seek entry.

© Bud Talkinghorn





Supporting Sharia--What is the editor of The National Post thinking?

On the editorial page (Fri. Sept. 9) there was an endorsement for sharia law as a civil law mechanism in Ontario. I don't usually herald Quebec's wisdom, but they got this puppy right. The editor tries to assure us that it wouldn't be any different than that used by Jews. The assumption is that sharia law courts would not be dangerous to the equality rights of all women in Canada. Anyway, he said that any gross violation of the woman's rights would be rectified by the Charter and the Ontario justice system. Unfortunately, the editor doesn't understand the family situation in the more fundamentalist households. . . . or even the cumbersome bureaucracy of the justice system.

As one Muslim female stated, "In my house, even my younger brother has twice as much say as I have." In a society as reclusive as some Muslim-Canadian ones, there is great pressure to keep the female members as powerless as possible. Invisible wouldn't hurt, it seems.

In too many cases it is a bunker mentality. Anyone can see that this is a religion founded on paternalistic ideas. I think many educated Muslims understand this, but don't dare openly state their beliefs. Therefore, even an adult university student is rarely allowed to have her own apartment, lest she bring shame to the family. In some cases girls are pressured into marrying older men back in the old country. Girls who are home schooled are even more disadvantaged. They have rarely seen the social norms and freedoms of their non-Muslim cohort so they are ignorant of any appeal they could make against a terrible judgement. The editor must remember, he is talking about a religion that allows an imam in Iran to hang a 16 year old girl from a crane . . . to the cheers of the town's menfolk. Her crime; Disrespecting a local imam's code of modesty.

If nothing else, the editor should have known about the poll of British-Muslims (which his paper published). That poll, taken after the London bombings, showed an intense disgust by the majority with the West and its corrupt infidel ways. That hatred is partly fueled by how uppity and immoral Western women are allowed to be. That disgust translates into quasi-seclusion for their womenfolk. Disobedience occasionally takes the form of "honour killings" They see the TV ads that denigrate men in every product. Uppity free women and wimpy men are a combined threat to the men's selfhood. . . . manhood. Therefore, they want, nay are now demanding, the introduction of a law that is loaded with the submission of women as a basic tenet.

Sorry, but not in my Canada.

© Bud Talkinghorn





Please, Mr. Terrorist, don't attack Canada on the weekend

The snafus of which this government is capable never cease to amaze me. When the Canadian Navy tried to access supplies needed for the Katrina disaster, they found that they couldn't. The reason? The Halifax storeroom would not release the supplies without authorization from Emergency Preparedness in Ottawa. Nobody answered the phone there. Voice mail told them that the department was closed for the holidays. Despite repeated calls, they never found anyone to authorize the removal. Sailors were then sent out trying to round up the supplies from private businesses--many owners had to be pressured into opening their stores. When soldiers invented the acronym "snafu", they must have been thinking of the current government.

© Bud Talkinghorn--Thank heavens that this didn't happen during a real disaster in Canada.





Weeping as I watch the educational standards creep ever lower.

The Ontario government's desire to lower standards in its schools is not surprising. This erosion of standards has been going on for decades. It started, I think, in the 60's when once-dismissable student behaviour suddenly received a mere rebuke from educators. The educational witch doctors began proclaiming that failure was too traumatizing for students. "Social promotion" became the norm. Students who never understood their grade six math found themselves in grade nine, facing algebra.

One story concerns an educator in a large Canadian city -- part of a matriculation marking committee. Stupifying rubbish in answer to the English essay questions was being given 18 marks out of 25. When a marker protested to one such easy marker, she said, "You believe in failing students, I believe in passing them." As though that wasn't enough, the head of the marking committee was re-evaluating upwards any answers that were given a failing mark. To round-off this travesty, teachers were allowed to mark their own students--a given no-no. Finally because the huge failure rate was booted up to a passing 50, that was almost the mean so they threw the marks onto a Bell curve chart. That allowed a student whose mark, for example, had been artifically jacked up to 50, to have a 73% on the final report card. The fight for standards was lost then.

Now Ontario wants to lower the standards in all subjects because the math is deemed too rigorous. Parents who wish their children to be kept behind so they can master that grade's material have to battle with the school boards to do so. The result is waves of students who are in away over their heads. And we wonder why student disruptions are growing more severe. While we hear about the third of students who drop out, nobody asks how many were bright bored ones. The mantra of most administrations is "the smart ones can get along without extra attention." What a wasteful approach that is. These are the students who will rise to the top. They just won't be as intelligent or informed as they could have been with enrichment courses guided by a caring teacher.

We are in a race with many countries to create a large talent pool. This is a time to forget feel-good policies and get back to cracking the books. The rot has reached into the universities, where professors must teach "bonehead remedial English" to undergrads. In the past, when I suggested to university instructor friends that the great unlearned were going to breech the gates of academe, they scoffed. They don't today. As a hammer to beat the profs into shape, the universities introduced the student evaluation of teachers. Woe betide the professor who didn't give enough A's or A-'s. "Sorry old boy, but not enough students signed up for your course. Farewell." The number of "bird courses" multiplied. That mentality, along with the doubling of university enrolments, has devalued the bachelor's degree. Society has to demand that our institutions turn out a quality product. Instead, we see governments cynically turning our schools into holding tanks for overwhelmed or indifferent students. It wouldn't do to have them show up in the unemployment statistics. Nothing freezes the blood of every politician more. On the other hand, they love to boast of the graduation rate climbing, even if done with smoke and mirrors. Don't let them get away with it.

© Bud Talkinghorn





Regarding Mike Weir's Canadian Open performance

Yes, it was disappointing to see him miss the cut, especially, after last year's stellar play. However, consider the infamous final round melt-down of Greg Norman in the Masters. Still, Nick Faldo had to shoot a 67 to win. The following year neither Norman nor Nick made the Masters' cutline. The gods of golf can be exceedingly cruel, to which anyone who plays the game can attest, through experience. I suspect that the pressure to win this tournament is an albatross around his neck--and mind. Besides, maybe Stephen Ames will be our great Canadian hope this year.

© Bud Talkinghorn



We Remember US & Canada's 9/11 Victims of Terrorism

Updated: Video: America Attacked 9/11

Dedicated to all those who died in the collapse of the World Trade towers and to those who attempted to rescue the victims.

The rest of this post has been bumped up from Sept. 10. See the list of Canadians murdered in the service of Islamist hatred below.




Families of 9/11 victims remember -- and link with 1985 Air India families Peter Kuitenbrouwer, National Post, Sept. 10, 05

[. . . . ] "We remember who killed them. And the families still don't have justice. We want to stay at 300 families. How big of a group do we have to be before the governments take notice?"

These families want the Canadian government to amend the State Immunity Act and the criminal code, to allow terror victims' families to sue states or organizations "that provided funding to the terrorist group that killed or injured the plaintiff." The groups also demand an inquiry into the bungled Air India investigation, which ended in acquittals earlier this year. [. . . . ]

CANADIANS LOST

Canadians killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attack:

Michael Arczynski
Garnet (Ace) Bailey
David Barkway
Kenneth Basnicki
Jane Beatty
Cynthia Connolly
Aarron Caleb Dack
Frank Joseph Doyle
Christine Egan
Michael Egan
Albert (Alfy) William Elmarry
Meredith Ewart
Peter Feidelberg
Alexander Filipov
Ralph Gerhardt
Herb Homer
Stuart Lee
Mark Ludvigsen
Bernard Mascarenhas
Colin McArthur
Michel Pelletier
Donald Robson
Ruffino (Roy) Santos
Vladimir Tomasevic
Chantal Vincelli
Debbie Williams


Where is the Canadian video in memory of our victims of 9/11?



There is still a trailer for "Recruiting For Terror" (below, from Sept. 10) on the website (link top right). Worth watching and listening. If anyone knows when the whole program will be re-broadcast, please leave a message in the comments. NJC


It has been four years and what has been done so that it never happens again?

Recruiting For Terror -- A Global National News Special presentation

[. . . . ] On Saturday September 10th, we look at three Canadians caught up in the war on terror since 9/11. Two were arrested and are jailed abroad; a third is probably dead. They came to Canada from different parts of the world, but all were allegedly enticed into the dangerous terrorist underworld. The National Post's Stewart Bell and Global National Photojournalist Jeff Stephen traveled to three continents to tell the story of how these young men were Recruited for Terror.

Showtimes:

Global Ontario, BC, Maritimes, Manitoba & Saskatchewan
10:00 - 11:00 p.m.

Global Alberta
9:00 - 10:00 p.m.

Global Quebec
8:00 - 9:00 p.m.